The Myth of the Spanish Model of Roma Inclusion

Roma-specific projects are only useful and sustainable if governments change the way they support all people.

“Things are different in Spain.” This is a common refrain when discussing Roma integration in Europe. Spain is held up as a model, and not just by media or government officials. Even some Roma activists point to programs in the country as a way forward. But this rosy picture ignores the historical and economic environment, as well as the vital role of Romani families. As Spain’s economic crisis and its effects take root, it’s time to break this myth.

Look at education. Spain receives high marks for enrolling Roma children into primary school but performs terribly when it comes to higher education. Only five percent of Roma students complete upper-secondary education—a statistic that is even more shocking when you consider that Spain is significantly behind less-developed European countries [PDF] like Czech Republic (30 percent), Hungary (22 percent), Romania (10 percent), or Bulgaria (nine percent). Roma students aren’t in the classrooms, and their history isn’t in textbooks: 500 years of Roma contributions to Spain fails to merit a single mention in school history books.

Although negative attitudes toward Roma might be higher in other countries, the Roma remain the most despised minority in Spain: 40 percent of the population would be disturbed if they had a Romani neighbor, and 25 percent would not allow their children to attend school with Romani students. This deep suspicion and mistrust carries over to the streets. Roma are 10 times more likely to be stopped by police for identification than those of a Caucasian appearance.

In contrast with Roma in Central and Eastern Europe, Spanish Roma are not an officially recognized ethnic minority in the country, and Roma civil society is for the most part in a pitiful state. After decades of state-funded service provisions through nongovernmental organizations, the much-needed voice of Roma organizations has been reduced to a mere whisper. A growing number of Roma university graduates find no incentive in engaging with the work of civil society.

Of course, there has been progress. But the myth of the “Spanish Roma inclusion model” blinds us to the most important point. It was not Roma-specific policies—like the 1989 Spanish Development Program or the Fundacion Secretariado Gitano’s ACCEDER employment program—that contributed the most to inclusion, but rather developments in Spain that had nothing to do with Roma.

In the transition from Franco’s dictatorship to democracy, the new Spanish constitution banned discrimination on ethnic or other grounds. Subsequently, new legislation was passed to repeal still existing discriminatory provisions towards Roma. Roma—along other excluded groups—now had the institutional backing to legally defend themselves and advance some of their rights as equal citizens.

In the 1980s Spain adopted a number of welfare policies such as universal health care coverage, compulsory basic education, and social housing designed to uplift the bottom layers of the society. After centuries of persecution and discrimination Spanish Roma found themselves living in a country that wanted to help all of its underprivileged. The welfare state helped to reduce mortality rates, increased life expectancy, improved levels of basic education, and gave hope to all Spanish citizens. This is single-handedly what has made the greatest difference for Spanish Roma.

During the late ’90s, until 2006, Spain benefited from a growing economy which reduced unemployment and improved living conditions for all. Roma also benefited from the economic boom, as they suffer today from the general economic downturn.

The final element which contributed to changes experienced by the Spanish Roma is hardly ever mentioned: the hard work and sacrifice that Romani families put towards making the most of the available opportunities. These are the families that opened the way for a Roma middle class in Spain. We are the children of people who, despite tremendous obstacles and discrimination, managed to improve their lives.

One of us, Ostalinda, is the daughter of world-renowned Flamenco dancer Mario Maya. Ostalinda’s father comes from a very modest background. He was raised in a cave without running water or electricity. His personal journey is one of hard work and sacrifice to secure a better upbringing for his three children. It was thanks to his perseverance and encouragement that Ostalinda managed to pursue her academic studies. With two degrees in anthropology and law, she has been working to defend the rights of Roma across Europe.

People like us are not the majority among Roma but we are a growing minority. We owe what we have and what we are to the hard work of our Romani parents and grandparents and not to projects done in the name of Roma.

The Spanish experience demonstrates that Roma projects alone cannot make a difference. The social distance between Roma and everyone else remains and can grow even bigger in a period of economic and social crisis. Roma-specific projects are only useful and sustainable if governments change the way they support all people, especially in the domain of equality, welfare provision, and economic development. This way everyone can get a chance. When real opportunity is provided to all, Roma in Spain are the living example that it can work.

This article was originally published in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Learn More:

10 Comments

Hide

Bill Bila

posted on Aug 28, 2014

Excellent article! Yes, there is room for much improvement and your message comes across loud and clear. I would only add that while Spain has something to learn from Central European countries, so too do the Roma of Central Europe have something to learn from their brothers and sisters in Spain. Hopefully such critical analysis as you present here will lead to more European wide exchanges within the Roma community.

I completely agree with the article. The situation of Roma in Spain was better as long as the economic situation in Spain had been favorable. The Roma have always preferred to be selfemployed, so they could have the freedom to meet the afective and emotional needs of the family and the community, which is the main issue in Romani culture. Right now, the economic situation does not allow Roma continue obtaining the financial resources needed to live, and the labor market rejects us, so we have many difficulties to work as an employee for others.

Also always has been told that in Spain we do not suffer the same racism and discrimination that in other countries, but we just need to watch the news in recent months. There are already several cases where gadje citizens of different Andalusian villages demonstrate against Roma, kicked out of their homes and burnt their houses, and besides, the media try to present the Roma as guilty of that situation.

I must also comment that in some regions of Spain, such as Catalonia and the Basque Country, the Roma have been recognized by political institutions and have regional strategies for the inclusion of Roma much older than the European Framework for National Strategies or the Decade of Roma inclusion.

Nevertheless I miss the mention of political corruption among politicians and the higher tranches of society. While the music was playing people were dancing. Now that the music stopped we have encounter with a cancer that is hard to remove. As Romans said: the political cycle looks like "democracy, demagogy, and dictatorship" let's hope tha the latter never comes and we will be able to deal with the second. So far it's a hard one to tackle.

Dear Laura,
The data we quote come from different sources, mostly reports produced by international or Spanish agencies.It depends whether you are interested in any data specifically or all of it? You can contact me via e-mail and I can help you to decipher the data we used.

Hello! My name is Minnie Jang from The Harvard Political Review, and I am currently writing an article to be published in the spring that is a reflection on the situation of the Romani people as the Decade of Roma Inclusion (2005-2015) draws to a close. I am particularly focusing on the discrimination against Romani children in education.

I was hoping to ask you a few questions to supplement my writing. Please e-mail back to me at your earliest convenience, letting me know when is a good time to reach out to you. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Dear Minnie,
Thanks for your intrest. You can contact me via my personal e-mail or through Antonia as well. I can also recommend some further reading on this topic, especially if you're interested in Spain and education of Roma pupils. On recent developments regarding this you can consult: Bálint Ábel Bereményi, Sílvia Carrasco (2014) Interrupted Aspirations: Research and Policy on Gitano Education in a Time of Recession, in Spain. In Intercultural Education 25 (6).